Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Digital Test Part 2

Here's another image from my week of test-driving the cintiq 12wx. As I mentioned in a previous post, I found the cintiq very handy for doing digital corrections and patches to existing artwork. In this case, I had an old drawing that I had created years ago which I wanted to revise a bit before it was published in print. I never liked the copy I had written for the original, since I had pretty much swiped it from an existing ad. So, in this case, I re-wrote and lettered some snappy new copy by hand (not on the cintiq) and inserted it into the drawing.

However, I also wanted to do some quick paste-ups to the artwork, swapping out 3 or 4 of the smaller images in the fake ad, which I was never very satisfied with. Normally, I'd draw the paste-ups by hand and then composite it in photoshop, but in this case, I drew the new images in a separate layer in pshop and then merged it in. The process was pretty seamless, and in the final product, I think it's hard to differentiate what was drawn by hand and what was patched on the cintiq.

For those who want to compare this piece to the original I posted years ago on my blog, you can check out this link.

I also have to thank Paul Conrad here for his advice on creating the paper-texture on this piece, though in the end I did the bare minimum of work in that department. Thanks for the help, Paul: I wish I had more time to follow your tips!

16 comments:

Holy crappola! That's hilariously awesome. Not to mention, awesomely hilarious. And thirdly, awesomely awesome. Don't tell me you hand lettered all that... Well, it's a good thing you aren't the slightest bit cynical, as can happen to cartoonists over the years. Whew! Dodged that bullet! ha

Roberto: Thanks, Roberto. The fineprint says I reserve the right to refuse anyone, anytime :)

Paul: Thanks, Paul. This was originally drawn a while ago for myself, but its being published as an inside cover to a local magazine, so I thought I'd rework the copy & format it better for print size. As for scanning the font -- but where's the fun in THAT? :)

Your transition from traditional to digital seems pretty seamless in your two examples. I was actually pretty surprised when you said you did most of your work traditionally. Your style seems to to be custom-made to be done digitally ( with the colored, flat shadow tones you do ). You've certainly been successful at replicating your analog brushwork. I've sort of struggled with that myself. Especially with hi-res work, having to zoom in get a smooth line is kind of a hassle. I do hear Sketchbook Pro is better at doing that than what I use ( Photoshop ) It's much closer to a real drawing experience.

Thanks, Benton. I've been hearing a lot of nice things about Sketchbook pro -- one of these days I'll have to give it a try. Glad you thought my style translated well to digital -- it was a bit hard at first, but eventually I got the cintiq to behave the way I wanted.

Please note that I do not do accept any private commissions (comic character sketches, family portraits, etc). I also do not sell any prints of my work online. Sketches and prints can usually be purchased at events that I am personally attending. Thanks for your understanding.

Upcoming Appearances

I'm looking forward to making my first appearance at the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival this year. Should be a fun time - I'll be doing sketches, selling some prints and trying to enjoy the maritime weather!